12:38 December 10
The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 is an attack on Indian Constitution: RaGa
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that anyone who supports the CAB is attacking and attempting to destroy the foundation of our nation. He further stated that Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 is an attack on Indian Constitution
12:35 December 10
Passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: India's tryst with bigotry, says Priyanka Gandhi
In a sharp attack on the government, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said "India's tryst with bigotry and narrow minded exclusion" was confirmed as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha at midnight yesterday.
The Congress general secretary's remarks came after the CAB was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it. The bill will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for its nod on Wednesday.
'Last night at midnight, India's tryst with bigotry and narrow minded exclusion was confirmed as the CAB was passed in the Lok Sabha. Our forefathers gave their lifeblood for our freedom," she said in a tweet, recalling her great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru's speech on the midnight of August 14-15, 1947, when India rang in its Independence.
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom," Nehru had said in the opening lines of a speech believed to be among the greatest in the 20th century.
10:59 December 10
'No religious bias in Citizenship'; Left Parties stage protest outside parliament
Earlier, lashing out at the Bharatiya Janta Party for "discriminating on the basis of religion" while providing citizenship to "illegal" immigrants through the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Hannan Mollah had said that the Bill against the constitutional principles.
On the government's alleged move to exclude three Northeastern states out of its ambit besides the tribal areas in three other states from the region, Mollah had said that the BJP is trying to impose "two different laws in one country".
09:54 December 10
CAB 'battleground' will shift to Supreme Court: Chidambaram
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram described the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as "patently unconstitutional" on Tuesday and said with its passage in Parliament, the battleground will shift to the Supreme Court.
He claimed that the elected lawmakers were abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges. According to the proposed legislation, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan by December 31, 2014 and faced religious persecution in those countries, will not be treated as illegal immigrants and given the Indian citizenship.
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it, 80 voting against it and zero abstentions, after a heated debate.
"CAB is unconstitutional. Parliament passes a Bill that is patently unconstitutional and the battleground shifts to the Supreme Court. Elected Parliamentarians are abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges!," Chidambaram said in a tweet.
09:21 December 10
CAB incongruous with the constitution of JD(U): Prashant Kishor
JD(U) national vice-president Prashant Kishor on Monday expressed disappointment over his party supporting the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Lok Sabha, holding that the legislation discriminates against people "on the basis of religion".
In a tweet late in the night when the Bill was put to vote and passed by the Lok Sabha with a resounding majority, Kishor sought to underscore that the Bill was "incongruous with the constitution of the party, headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which swore by secularism and Gandhian ideals.
"Disappointed to see JDU supporting #CAB that discriminates right of citizenship on the basis of religion. It's incongruous with the party's constitution that carries the word secular thrice on the very first page and the leadership that is supposedly guided by Gandhian ideals," the poll strategist-turned-politician tweeted.
Participating in the debate on the Bill, the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, said on the floor of the House that the JD(U) was supporting the legislation since it was "not against secularism".
07:31 December 10
"History will remember that Congress Party strongly opposed the bill that threatened the soul of India," INC MP Gaurav Gogoi.
07:29 December 10
Former Assam chief minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi said that the Bill is "dangerous for Assam".
"This [CAB] is dangerous for Assam, we are next-door neighbours to Bangladesh. This Bill will adversely affect the culture, heritage and population structure of the North-East," Gogoi said.
He further said the bill will encourage people from Bangladesh to enter and settle in Assam.
07:28 December 10
Bill against national integration: TMC
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay also said that the Bill is against the "national integration". "TMC is a firm believer of unity and diversity and does not support division of the country on the basis of religion," he said.
07:26 December 10
Black day for Indian constitution: Tharoor
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that it is a "black day" for the Constitution. "It is a black day for our Constitution because what happened was unconstitutional. It [the Bill] very clearly targets the Muslim community, it is very shameful," Tharoor said.
07:16 December 10
At the stroke of midnight hour, India's ideals were betrayed: Owaisi
After the Bill, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan was passed by 311-80 votes in the lower house, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi took to Twitter to express his anguish.
Owaisi said that at the "stroke of the midnight hour, while the world slept, India's ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice were betrayed".
The AIMIM leader further said: "I fought hard against it and I promise every Indian that this fight isn't over. Don't let hopelessness come near you. Be defiant, be strong."
Earlier today, Owaisi tore a copy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill during a discussion on it in the Lok Sabha.
07:06 December 10
Citizenship Bill fallout: India's tryst with bigotry, says Priyanka Gandhi
New Delhi:After Lok Sabha cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill past midnight on Monday, leaders of several Opposition parties voiced their discontent and said it was against national interest.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the Personal Data Protection Bill are among the nine bills, which are expected to be taken up for passage in the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament. The bill seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there. The bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet earlier.
They will be given Indian citizenship after residing in the country for five years, instead of 11 years which is the current rule.
The Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to refugees from the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh was passed in Lok Sabha after a lively debate and a division of vote with 311 MPs voting in favour of the bill and 80 voting against it.
Read: CAB protest LIVE: GU students intensify protest; slit hands to write express ange